Early Soft Machine

The Soft Machine's early days as a slightly skewed psychedelic pop band tearing itself in the opposing directions formulated by founding members Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen, Robert Wyatt, and Mike Ratledge need little introduction – they have, after all, been anthologized across so many different compilations and collections that it seems hard to believe there ever was a time when they were considered "rare."…

There is no shortage of collections of archive material by the Soft Machine and some of them are pretty good (especially the ones released on Cuneiform). But this Hux double-CD compilation is the mother lode. You just can't beat BBC recordings for good sound quality and meaningful "alternate versions." This first volume covers the group's early years up to the departure of drummer Robert Wyatt, starting with a session from December 1967, when the Softs consisted of Kevin Ayers, Mike Ratledge, and Wyatt. Early demo and live versions of dubious quality of "Clarence in Wonderland," "Certain Kind," or "Hope for Happiness" are in circulation (see Turns On, Vol. 1, for instance), but these recordings are far more superior…

Recorded at the Paris Theatre London, March 11th, 1971

Soft Machine - Seven (1973) {2013 Columbia Japan Mini LP Blu-spec CD2 SICP 30167}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 279 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 101 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 45 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1973, 2013 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP-30167
Rock / Art Rock / Experimental / Jazz Rock

Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue from Soft Machine features the high-fidelity Blu-spec CD2 format (compatible with standard CD players). This series features the following albums: "Third," "Fourth," "Fifth," "Six," and "Seven." *Blu-spec CD2 is the next generation Compact Disc that employs the Phase Transition Mastering, the technology developed for mastering of Blu-ray discs, to further perfect the acclaimed characteristics of Blu-spec CD. Fully compatible with standard CD players, Blu-spec CD2 completely alters the experience of music.

Soft Machine's revolving door of personnel changes continued with 1973's Seven, the last Softs album with a numbered title and also the last released by Columbia. Bassist Hugh Hopper was gone, replaced by Roy Babbington, a guest musician on 1971's Fourth who had played bass with Nucleus. Two other Nucleus alumni, keyboardist/reedman Karl Jenkins and drummer John Marshall, were on board as well, and since keyboardist/composer Mike Ratledge was now the band's only founding member (actually, Hopper wasn't an original member either, having replaced Kevin Ayers for Volume Two), the group's links to their early years seemed increasingly tenuous - and would become more so…

Back in the days before the Cuneiform and Voiceprint labels began issuing a host of archival Soft Machine music (including reasonably well-recorded live sets from the so-called "classic" period of the band), bootleg tapes - often live audience recordings of poor quality - circulated widely among Softs fans. One of those tapes was a mysterious "lost studio album" called Rubber Riff, and fans might be forgiven for enthusiastically seeking out a tape of this session, or at least displaying healthy curiosity about why Soft Machine would record an entire studio LP that would then sit on the shelf, hidden well away from public ears. Granted, the recording was made by a Soft Machine lineup from the group's mid-'70s "fusion" period, a band that practically no one viewed as "classic"…

Soft Machine's revolving door of personnel changes continued with 1974's Seven, the last Softs album with a numbered title and also the last released by Columbia. Bassist Hugh Hopper was gone, replaced by Roy Babbington, a guest musician on 1971's Fourth who had played bass with Nucleus. Two other Nucleus alumni, keyboardist/reedman Karl Jenkins and drummer John Marshall, were on board as well, and since keyboardist/composer Mike Ratledge was now the band's only founding member (actually, Hopper wasn't an original member either, having replaced Kevin Ayers for Volume Two), the group's links to its early years seemed increasingly tenuous - and would become more so…